LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I'm Jim Vandergriff, President of the Ozarks Folklore Society. I want to welcome you all to our program -- and thank you for coming on this beautiful day which most of us would probably like to take full advantage of. Today's program, as you know, is a presentation of an "old fashioned schoolhouse Christmas." In the 19th century, when these traditional programs began to grow up in America, the school was the social center of most of the small, rural communities -- and such communities were in the majority in those days. The programs were, of course, religious in content, in their celebration of Christmas, but were more social occasions than religious ones. They were, in fact, only one of the numerous school functions that served to weld these small communities into communities. Others, such as spelling bees and pie suppers, served the same purposes. People came from miles away, not just to watch their own children perform, though certainly that was an important part of it, but also to share in a cultural experience -- to share some "quality time," as it were, with their relatives, friends, and neighbors -- to be a community. Such programs have not been gone from our cultural landscape for many years. In fact, some schools still do them, though in most cases the programs are much different than they used to be -- devoid of most of the religious content and skewed toward the national generic rather than the local. In general, though, partly because of changes in the political temper of the country and more certainly because the nature of the schools themselves changed with consolidation, these traditional programs are largely gone -- as are the communities they once helped to weld together. What you are going to experience this afternoon, then, I would like for you to be aware, you may never have another opportunity to experience. I remember these programs with great fondness, as I'm sure many others of you do also. In fact, I would like to ask you all to sift your own memories as you watch this afternoon. Then, after the program, perhaps you will share some of your memories with us. The first couple of years of my schooling were in small, mostly rural, schools in Camden and Pulaski counties. They were not country schools per se, but I remember pie suppers, cake walks, spelling bees, the school play, and, of course, Christmas programs. My first such memory, in fact, includes me dressed in a green and red elf costume that my mother had made -- one basted together more than sewed. I remember worrying that the stitches were going to pull out and embarrass me before the program was over. I don't recall having any lines, or doing anything besides sitting on the stage among the glitter and costumes. In fact, I don't remember much else about it at all -- except the huge and frightening number of adult faces out there watching intently. And I remember that at the end of the program Santa Claus came in and gave every child in the gym a small sack of Christmas candy. I'm sorry such things are gone. We kids looked forward to them with great excitement -- and trepidation. But they were an important part of our socialization and our education. It is with pleasure then that I introduce Molly Plate, a member of the Ozarks Folklore Society and the First Grade teacher here at Truman. Her students will present for you "An Old-fashioned Schoolhouse Christmas."